Making It Awkward

Jessica is joined by Lindsay Lee Wallace for the second of two episodes about the womanosphere . The two talk about the performance of the womanosphere, and more of the media side of things including skinnytok and Evie magazine . Evie magazine is the conservative magazine for cis women that encourages us to seek truth and find beauty. Jessica gets the honor of introducing the new body ideal to Lin...

The womanosphere is here! Are we ready? In the first of two episodes exploring the womanosphere and what it means for us, dietitian and author Jessica Wilson is joined by Cecily Nelson-Alford to talk about feminism and gender. The two discuss Evie Magazine , social media and why the messages of the womanosphere might be appealing. Cecily talks about how value is attached to womanhood in society an...

Jessica Wilson, MS RD is joined by Malak (whose last name and appearance we're not sharing to protect her safety) to discuss the intersections of ICE, Palestine and Black liberation. Malak was recently a part of a mental health delegation that traveled to Palestine and shares the stories of those she met. The two talk settler colonialism, surveillance and over policing. They also talk about a shar...

Paul Saladino is LOUD and literally banks on fear. He thinks we live in a zoo. He used to be a carnivore and sold the idea, and then started eating plants. He's said many deeply ridiculous and dangerous things. He is the reason Erewhon has a raw meat smoothie and the primary reason we overthink seed oils. He knows how much meat Jessica should eat in a day. He's a Lot. Clips of his claims are sprin...

The first MAHA report, the " Make Our Children Healthy Again Assessment " came out on 5/22/25, and Selena Salfen, MPH RDN , and Meghan Cichy MPH RDN join Jessica to discuss it. The report came out at least two additional times, due to " formatting errors " which was a fancy label for AI errors . NOTUS was the first news outlet to report the citations that don't exist. The three discuss what RFK ge...

This podcast's origin story! Originally airing 10/26/23 Jessica is joined by nurse practitioner Calvin Gilbert to recount their presentation about weight stigma in trans care at UCSF's 2023 Trans Health Summit and what led to a medical doctor being escorted out of the room. Jessica talks with Calvin about what happened the previous day and why it motivated her to start Making it Awkward and make a...

It's been 100 days of Hellth in America and boy do we need a vacation. This week Jessica is joined by dietitians Meghan Cichy and Selena Salfen to discuss what has happened in public health this year, and break down the  MAHA Commission . They talk through what RFK Jr. and MAHA have been up to and how it will impact childhood nutrition. Jessica asks Selena and Meghan what happened to  "childhood o...

How do we get beef tallow and is it actually less processed than seed oils? And if companies are using colostrum for their supplements, are they taking it away from baby cows? Dr. Sarah Dougherty and Beef farmer Trampus Harmon return to the show for a spirited conversation about the renaissance of cow byproducts. Trampus explains how he makes tallow at home and discusses market trends for cow bypr...

Re-release Making America Healthy Again Part 2! Original air date: 10/31/24. Jessica talks with three guests for their reflections on her interview with Jeff Hutt , spokesperson for the Make America Healthy Again PAC and shares email feedback from a listener and her 18 year old daughter. Medical sociologist Dr. Natalie Ingraham joins the show to talk about the people part of MAHA and the concept o...

Great British Bake-Off  alum  Mike Wilkins  joins the show to talk about farming and queerness in the UK! He is a fourth -generation farmer, working alongside his family on their farm,  Nolands . He has a weekly  Instagram series  about what he's been up to on the farm and it's an absolute joy to watch. In this episode Jessica and Mike chat about the  intersections among farming, queerness and men...

Soda taxes take 2. Jesica is joined by Raeann Bowlds, MPH and Blake Flaugher, MPH to discuss Dr. Kelly Brownell's claims that crack, soda, Cheetos, and baby formula do the same things in our brains and our bodies. The three talk about tobacco and soda taxes to see if the two are the same, and what Berkeley CA has done (or hasn't done) with its soda tax revenue. Jessica asked Blake and Raeann to te...

Jessica Wilson is joined by medical historian Dr. Bethany Johnson of University of South Carolina* to talk everything measles: their history, what we should know, what won't treat them, and what happens after someone has them. Bethany gets deep into the medical history of measles and mumps outbreaks and the two talk about RFK's claim that everyone got measles when he was a kid and it all worked ou...

Jessica Wilson , MS RD is joined by Dr. Kelly Brownell, Director Emeritus of the World Food Policy Center at Duke University. The two talk about soda taxes, food systems, policy, and marketing. Jessica asks Dr. Brownell about the Duke World Food Policy Center's Identifying and Countering White Supremacy Culture in Food Systems report . And to wrap up, Dr. Brownell shares how he thinks we achieve h...

Jessica Wilson i s joined by author Tessa Rapaczynski for the next episode in the re-grifting series. Tessa's article for Medium titled "The Long Con and dirty dong of Andrew Huberman, PhD" immediately caught my eye. Today's episode is their conversation about the evolution of Huberman and his path from nerdy professor who didn't leave his lab to podcast bro with 7.3 million followers and multiple...

Eating disorder awareness week is this week and it falls during Black History Month. Tigress Osborn, Dr. Whitney Trotter, Angela Goens and Elizabeth Ayiku return to the pod to talk about these intersections and Elizabeth's film Me Little Me . Elizabeth first talked about the film on the pod 11/7/24. They chat about their thoughts on the film, how it's been received at festivals and by the eating d...

Skittle-fed beef? Jessica joined recent guests Dr. Sarah Dougherty and Mackenzie Behrle at Harmon and Son Beef in Grants Pass, OR for a farm tour and chat with recent guest Trampus Harmon . Jessica went to the farmers market there and got to talk to folks about raw milk, RFK Jr and vaccines in a red county. She shares those conversations today.  Then the four of them gathered in Trampus's living r...

This week registered dietitian Jessica Wilson chats with agricultural teacher, Mackenzie Berhle, about farm subsidies and cheese caves. Mackenzie talks about agricultural check off programs, and the dairy buyout (or buy back) program. They discuss got milk? and milk in school lunches. The two get into Big Cheese, and cheese caves and Jessica is very confused about where and to whom the money, milk...

Jessica's dad is back to read some podcast feedback and some brief thoughts on RFK Jr. You'll hear ​Jen and Jessica were called mean girls ​Jessica can't disprove the "science" of Mark Hyman ​Proof that mercury doesn't cause autism ​How people don't realize two things can be true at the same time ​How her dad feels about getting his vitamins via IV therapy . Then the rest of this episode is for th...

What's left to say? After episodes about vaccines and just general science. Jessica has been thinking about what she could add to the RFK Jr. conversation and realized there's something that hasn't been quite clear. As dangerous as Kennedy's anti-science stance is, he is also incredibly basic.  Today Jessica is joined by Dr. Natalie Ingraham to review both the Senate Finance Committee and Senate H...

Jessica Wilson, MS RD is joined by pod editor Jen Jacobs to kick off the Re-Grifting series. Dr. Mark Hyman is the first to be featured having introduced himself to Jessica over instagram. He is a co-founder of health-tech start-up Function Health and a huge fan of supplements . Mark was part of the group of food-fluencers who influenced the FDA to ban red dye no. 3.  The NYT recently had a profil...

Dr. Sarah Dougherty, DVM joins Jessica Wilson, MS RD to talk about everything from bird flu and raw milk, to bovine colostrum, Ivermectin, how to interpret research, probiotics for pets, influencers, and how to keep our pets safe and healthy when it comes to bird flu and pet food. Jessica asks her what she's most concerned about with the incoming administration.  Sarah also shares a bit about her...

Beef farmer (and former dairy farmer) Trampus Harmon joins dietitian Jessica Wilson to talk about raw milk. We've seen the rise of raw milk influencer-culture and Jessica wanted to talk with someone who knows the ins and outs of dairy cow farming. The two chat about the safety of raw milk and how influencers are impacting the farming landscape. Trampus introduces Jessica to the dairy buyback progr...

We knew what was coming in 2025. Through the conversations on this podcast about food processing and collective health anxiety we got a front row seat to watch how people have moved to extreme views about food and our health. We've seen it mobilize groups of people to defy what should be common sense about food safety, and basic science.  We've also seen how people, particularly white men, respond...

Re-release: Jessica and Lexi share many of the ways their brains work differently and the tips and tools they've adopted to navigate a neurotypical world. Lexi shares her experiences with disordered eating and some things that she's found to be helpful as she works on having less all-or-nothing eating habits. They share what it was like to be locked down in a small house with three adults and two...

A gluten-flugen-dog? Social media has introduced us to those who want the most flavor, texture, color and creativity in their food and, conversely, those who avoid even salt and might not even cook their food to kill pathogens. Tiktok has given us a window into kitchens around the country. From jello salad to quinoa salad and raw chicken to hot dogs impaled with spaghetti noodles, boiled then pain...